Toddler Hanukkah

Well, it's the night before Christmas. More importantly, it's the day after the last day of Hanukkah. This was Jonah's first Hanukkah in which he was really aware. Some highlights:

- When I came home from work on the first night, he was already saying "ha-kah" and associating it with the menorah, dreidels, and his First Hanukkah Book.
- After I read the first transliterated blessing, he signed "more".
- By the third night, he knew what came after candles -- presents! (See some great examples to the right.)
- We didn't get to our traditional dinner until the last night. Jonah gobbled up the brisket (from my dad's famous recipe) and the "ha-ha" (challah), but didn't go for the latkes.

We don't celebrate many holidays in our household, only Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Michele and I have been pretty consistent about Hanukkah for the past few years, despite the fact that I have minimal Judaism in my upbringing and Michele grew up with Christianity and Catholicism. Michele and I talk frequently about how to be more Jewish, including joining a temple, sending Jonah to Jewish day care or preschool. I think a lot about why this is so important to me and I've come up with two things.

First, most of my life I wanted to learn more about Judaism. I only went to Hebrew school for a year and I was barely bar-mitvah'd. Including religion in my life with any more regularity than eight nights every twelve months is a bit scary. I'm skeptical of religions in general, and most of my childhood experiences with Jewish community left a bad taste in my mouth. But I am curious, and I feel like I have a chance to learn the things that I didn't when I was a kid.

Second, being Jewish is the only "minority" thing about me. I still remember how I felt in second grade when most of the class drew Christmas trees and the other Jewish kid and me were stuck with menorahs. Today, the little girl next door asked me if my Christmas presents were wrapped. I felt the same twinge I always do at being mistaken for someone who celebrates Christmas -- pride, some self-conscious indignation, a little embarrassment. Thirty years ago, if someone had asked me if I wanted my son to go through the menorah/Christmas tree dance I would have said no. But I really want Jonah to have the experience of being a minority, even if it is only in a small piece of his life that he only thinks about for a few weeks in December.

18 Months Old

Jonah turned 18 months old on Sunday. Thursday was Thanksgiving, and Michele and I know that we have much to be thankful for.

Here are the stats. Jonah is 33 1/2" tall and he weighs 23 lbs., 10 oz. That keeps him in string bean range, at 83rd and 20th percentile for height and weight, respectively. For anyone keeping track, he has doubled in length and tripled in mass since birth. Tall and thin is in, despite a food rampage over the past week. The photo here is from the night after Thanksgiving, where Jonah discovered the wondrous combination of ketchup and cranberry sauce. I just kept thinking, "brains, more brains".

I learned some interesting things at his 18-month "well baby" checkup. First, there is nothing wrong with harnessing Jonah's love for everbody's favorite tomatoey condiment to get him to eat his vegetables. In fact, Michele just informed me that tomorrow's lunch will include ketchup with brocolli -- a tasty treat that even Ronald Reagan would be proud to serve in school lunches.

Second, a flu vaccine needle looks really big and scary next to my 33 1/2 inch baby. Jonah was one brave dude, taking three shots in the thighs today. What must be going through his mind when he's pinned down by mom and dad on cold doctor's office butcher paper -- even before the first poke? Then after the first...and after the second...and after the third? The emotional scars of childhood!

Lastly, it really is important to wean your kid from his pacifier. Michele and I have had a love-hate affair with the "na-na's". Before he was born, we decided we didn't want to get him hooked. A nurse convinced us otherwise with a stern look as he wailed and wailed the first night of his life. I plead only partial guilt, since we were both sleepless and clueless. Anyways, our pediatrician convinced me today that the longer we wait, the harder it will get. Perhaps it's just been a fantasy that one day Jonah is just going to leave his pacifier on the floor somewhere and never turn back -- as one day he will leave home, parents strewn on the floor, and never turn back.

Sick Kid

Jonah is sick. He's had a cold for the past three or four days. No fever, just a very runny nose and a cough. I'm pretty sure that his illness is more distressing to Michele and me than it is to him.

In fact, he's usually in a good mood when he's sick -- and he's not even old enough to get to stay home from school. Unlike his mom and I, who worry about how long we're going to be sick, how it's going to impact us at work, whether it is going to prevent us from running marathons, and the like, he is just unfazed emotionally. I'm not saying that there are no added stresses. Jonah is clearly upset by coughing fits and mom continually wiping gobs of mucous from his nose. But those things are transient. When they're over, they're over. It's not clear to me whether he lacks the foresight to know that the booger wipings are going to keep coming or whether he's just better at not resenting short-term pain than I am. In any case, I admire his resilience.

Despite his illness, he is talking and thinking ferociously. He finally seems to understand that animal types ("dg", a perfect "cat") are different from animal noises ("fff", "mee-ah"). In addition to Goodnight Moon and Happy Baby Things that Go, he has plunked down in our laps with an atlas and with Thich Nhat Hanh's Teachings on Love. He now says "pk" (park), "pack" (pack -- we're in the process of moving), "tuk" (truck), "Peet" (as in Peet's Coffee, where he and mom go), and coolest of all, "me" (the real self-reference) -- all in context.

So, as bummed as I am to see my child sick, I am overjoyed with him and how he changes every day.

Speaking in Consonants

At about 17 1/2 months, Jonah has had two big changes in his talking. First, he has started saying words that have two consonants instead of just one. The last few months, we've heard babbles of "baa" (bar, bath), "ffff" (fish, hoof), "sss" (star, snake), "moo" (moo, moon), and more.

Last week he came up with "tck", which means "tickle". Jonah and I have a daily routine when I come home from work and go to the bedroom to change my clothes. I throw him on the bed and tickle him. He tickles my belly button. He also started saying "cck" (cookie) and "dt" (dessert). Jonah gets five Sesame Street alphabet cookies after dinner every night -- if he eats enough beans, tofu, or "me" (meat) -- and asks for it.

The other great change in Jonah's talking is that he has started parroting Michele and me. He is willing to tackle any word that we ask him to (tonight he tried "fishing pole"), and a lot of the time he will say new words without prompting.

Jonah still has a long way to go before he is doing Hamlet, although he's not too far from "to be or not to be."

Halloween and Hoof

Jonah was a race car driver for Halloween. It was the first time he actually wanted to wear a hat (other than any hat I'm wearing, that is). We didn't trick-or-treat, and in fact didn't even have trick-or-treaters. Just not the right neighborhood for that, I guess. But Jonah got to go to two different Halloween parties and wear his costume to a couple of different classes. And, of course, he wore it around the house. Here, Jonah is in full costume, complete with car and the most important accessory for any race car driver -- a stuffed lamb.

Hoof was named by my wife one day when we just decided that this was going to be Jonah's attachment object. Hoof has survived now for probably close to a year of Jonah actually noticing him. He's been through many wash cycles and has had an eye job.

Okay, I have to admit that Hoof is actually a set of triplets. We realized not too long after Jonah started to hang on to Hoof that we needed some back up Hoofs for situations involving pee pee beds (diapers do leak sometimes), blood, snot, and mud. Hoof gets a sub every few weeks. Michele and I don't know if Jonah has caught on to this yet, although we have had some close calls where Hoof magically teleported from room to room. Jonah looks at him kind of funny when in the course of a diaper change (and some quick action from mom) gray, smelly Hoof becomes pink and fresh again.

The concept of a "lovey" that a child can focus on fascinates me. How did my son get so attached to this thing? I had my stuffed animals growing up, too, so I can relate. (Teddy still lives in my nightstand, 37+ years old, broken music box, band-aids, and all.) At home, Jonah and Hoof are rarely separated for more than the duration of a meal. When Hoof is hiding somewhere, Jonah walks around, searching, saying "Fffff. Fffff." It's really amazing to see so much love.

What Your Toddler Knows

I am amazed every day at what my toddler knows. Some recent examples:

Michele and I received an email today from my grandfather, who lives in Los Angeles, saying that he was going to be in town and asking if we'd have time for a visit. After my wife replied, she told Jonah that Great Grandpa Sherman was coming to visit. Jonah pointed to the fireplace, where we have a picture of me, Jonah, my dad, and my grandfather. Thinking Jonah was confusing my grandfather with his grandfather, since we just saw my dad last weekend, Michele brought him over to the picture. He immediately pointed to his great grandfather, Sherman. The incredibly cool thing about this is that he has probably seen his great grandpa five times in his whole life, with the last time back in May.

A couple of weeks ago I was singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to Jonah. Not even thinking about it, I paused after the first "little" and looked at Jonah. He said, "sssss", which is how he says "star". Jonah had never before shown that he knew the words to this song or any other. My wife joined in and we sang the rest, pausing before the last word of each line. He got every word: "aah", "ha", "sss", "sssss", and "aah". Then we all repeated the song. Michele and I were stunned. He did the same thing a few days ago, so I'm convinced he knows the song.

June Lake: Jonah's First Boat Ride

My son, my wife, and I returned today from a three night trip to June Lake, CA. June Lake is a small recreational area east of Yosemite and about 20 minutes north of Mammoth. My dad and step-mom have a vacation home there and we visit occasionally.

On Saturday, Jonah rode in a boat for the first time. It was a small boat -- maybe 12 feet long, with an outboard motor -- and we went out so Jonah's grandpa could fish. Jonah bravely wielded the fishing net, touched a live fish, and fed cheerios to the ducks. He held on to mom or dad when the boat was in motion and walked around comfortably when we were anchored. What a fearless kid!

I was happy to see that my son enjoyed his boat ride, because I've always enjoyed being on or in the water. His grandpa plans to start teaching him to fish next year. Personally, I can't wait to start scuba diving with him.

Music for Your Children

Jonah loves listening to music, ranging from kid tunes to Bob Marley. One of the great music activities we found for him is Music Together class at Holbrook-Palmer park in Atherton.

I was skeptical at first. Just another music class, I thought. And then my wife loaded a Music Together CD half way through a six hour car trip. (Groan!) To my surprise, the music was not only relatively un-annoying, but catchy. The tunes started off simple and got more complex. I could hear how the music was structured to teach kids basic rhythms and scales as building blocks for more interesting tunes.

I later learned that each session of 12 classes has a different musical theme with a different corresponding CD. My wife, who goes to the classes with Jonah, likes that the music has a lot of international variety and that the teachers are very competent. Plus, the price of admission gets you a duplicate set of CDs -- so you can keep one at home and one in the car.

Jonah gives a big smile when he hears this music, so I recommend that you learn more about it yourself. Check out the Music Together web site or go to Music for Families, the organization that actually teaches the classes at many sites in the Bay Area (you can register for classes here, too). It's not cheap -- more than $200 for a session -- but I think it is worth it for the class time, the quality of the education, and the CDs that keep Jonah happy in the car. And Music Together classes are taught globally, so your kids can participate even if you live in Taiwan.

Sign Language

I mentioned signing in my last post, and I want to make a plug for it. We started teaching Jonah to sign when he was around six months old -- younger, actually, than the books recommend. We used Sign with your Baby by Joseph Garcia as a guide. It teaches based on American Sign Language and includes a useful DVD. I was skeptical that Jonah would pick it up, given how inconsistent we were in signing to him. But eventually, he started signing "milk" and then "more". (The picture here has him signing "cookie" at dessert time.) Now, he probably knows a dozen signs in addition to the words that he can verbalize.

Why bother? The main argument that I find persuasive is that toddlers get frustrated when they can't communicate. Signing gives them a vocabulary. I didn't really appreciate this when Jonah was six months old, but now I see how he will often say things with clear intention, but that my wife and I can only sometimes decipher. Signing allows him to communicate both things and concepts. I have to believe that this makes his life a little easier, and it definitely makes our lives richer as a family.

Some say that teaching your kid to sign helps him talk earlier. From what I've read, the data on this is inconclusive. In fact, there is some evidence that, because they don't need to talk, signing can slow down their verbal development. I'm not convinced either way, but I know that Jonah smiles when he signs and we understand what he is saying.

The Stanford Band

Today Jonah had his first encounter with a band -- well, at least some people consider it a band. At my 15th college reunion he saw the Stanford Band. Jonah rocked out. It may be that he was just trying to hold on while I danced, but I swear he was tapping along on my shoulder the whole time. Plus, he signed "more" afterwards.

Tonight at home he started saying "band band band". I dug out an old Stanford Band CD and right away Jonah found a Tupperware bowl, turned it upside down, and started beating it. Later, he really got into the beat with his music sticks.

It's great to see my son enjoy music so much. This music has some funky sentimental meaning for me, since I used to play it, but as a dad there is something very satisfying about seeing Jonah appreciate something that was such a big part of my life.

Welcome

I'm writing this blog to keep track of all of the incredible things that happen as my son, Jonah, grows. Jonah was born in May of 2005, so today he's about 16 1/2 months old.